Undergraduate Major: English
Undergraduate Minors: Education Studies, Honors, Women and Gender Studies
Graduate Major: Adolescent English Education
Hometown: Erie, PA
What I like most about the Teach in Five program was the flexibility it gave me in my undergrad; I had more time and opportunities to explore new and old passions. During my undergrad, I helped found and run an organization that assists libraries in expanding their graphic novel collections, was Children’s Activities Coordinator for Ithacon for 2 years, president of the English Honors Society (SigTD) and IC Craft for a Cause, presented at academic conferences from the local to international level, created a program for high schoolers to learn presentation skills and present at a conference, completed a Summer Scholars research project, worked at the local library, and wrote a thesis on and became one of the leading experts on LGBTQ picture books in the country. I'm not sure I could have done all of this, at least not as well as I did, if I had tried to get my ed degree and teaching certification in 4 years. The Teach in Five Program allowed me the space to try new things and gain skills that will help me later as an educator.